Best reef tank sump setup

OCTO reef sump is an attractive sump that concentrates a lot of important functions into a smaller dimension. The sump has a solid acrylic build fused together by hand into compartments for optimal form and functions.

The OCTO reef sump comes with a build in filter sock holder or you have the option of running a fleece roller filter. The pinnacle of reef keeping sumps has to be the Royal Exclusiv Dreambox 2. The Dreambox sump is customizable and can be outfitted with all of the German-made Royal Exclusive products, pumps, skimmers, and fleece filter roller. Hmahli is a boutique Australia brand we first case across at ReefStock Australia.

While still a relatively new brand in the North American market these high quality sumps deserve a spot on our gear list. Hmahli sumps are highly customizable to suit your reefing style, and the attractive sleek design will become a glowing centerpiece under your tank. One of the specialities of this sump is the color changing LED, so you have adapt the color to whatever suits your needs.

The Eshopps color series is a line of sumps made for every level of aquarist from the introductory hobbyists too advanced and professional. You will be able to clean the majority of the algae with a magnet. If you have an acrylic aquarium, make sure to use a magnet safe for acrylic. Read More: Tips for cleaning aquarium panels. When water evaporates from your saltwater aquarium, only the fresh water evaporates, and the salt is left behind.

In order to maintain a consistent salinity level, we must top off our tanks with fresh water. There are two ways to top off your tank, manually or automatically. Manual top off is simply adding reverse osmosis de-ionized water RODI to you tank, while automatic top off requires the use of a fresh water reservoir and auto top off device.

There are several types of automatic top off systems but they all work to replenish your tank with fresh water. Read More: How to top off your aquarium with freshwater. Asterina starfish, an introduction to this common reef aquarium critter. An introduction to coral crabs, good and bad. How to Eliminate Aiptasia in Aquariums. Traveling reefer blues and the anxieties of the vacationing aquarist.

Tips to building a quieter reef tank. Common Coral Reef Pests and how to remove them. Who We Are Reef Builders was established in , and is the oldest running website providing news and helpful information regarding the saltwater aquatics industry.

Steps to setting up an aquarium Step 1. Planning Step 2. Equipment and Set-up Step 3. Saltwater and Water Testing Step 4. Light, Flow, and Filtration Step 5. Adding Fish and Corals Step 6. Aquarium Maintenance Step 1. Planning What to Keep Before you get started it is best to have an idea in mind about what you want to keep in your aquarium. Tank Size Selecting your tank size is the second most important decision, after choosing what to keep.

One of the secrets of reef keeping, bigger is always better. Saltwater and Water Testing Saltwater There are two ways you can get salt water. Mixing Your Own Saltwater Mixing saltwater at home is pretty straight forward. Light, Flow, and Filtration Light Proper lighting is important to the success of your reef tank. Lighting periods When you first set up your aquarium, lights should be switched on for 6 — 8 hours per day.

Light zones Depending on the size of your tank and rockscape you will create light zones in the aquarium with high and low lights. Flow Flow is an essential part of a healthy reef tank. Water movement facilitates gas exchange and keeps your fish and corals healthy. There are photos of a 40 breeder sump build with some helpful DIY techniques for working with glass and assembling the sump.

Some people will install a refugium into their sump. While common, there are plenty of people that just do without them. The term itself has become a little generic. A repeated statement in reefkeeping information is that your refugium needs slow flow running through it.

This is not true in all cases. Macroalgae grows the fastest with two things present. Good water flow more oxygen and lots of light in the proper spectrum. It is simple to just place the macroalgae in a sump chamber with consistent water height. Usually the macroalgae needs to be segregated or prevented from getting sucked into pumps.

A plastic mesh divider or basket can be used in these cases. Some refugiums are created as a habitat for microfauna and all the critters that live in the reef. Providing a safe place away from fish and predators will theoretically let them flourish and multiply. If you are building your first sump then you will probably get the most mileage out of trying your hand at growing macroalgae like Chaeto.

A more complicated refugium setup can then be something you choose to experiment with or forgo altogether. By purposely encouraging its growth, Macroalgae can out-compete nuisance algae by consuming nutrients in the water column. In the diagram at the top of this article, I show water moving from one end of the tank to the other.

The water cascades, flowing from chamber to chamber like a waterfall. Illustrating the concept this way is simply done to make the concept easy to explain and show. This design is generally a good practice. When the dividers span the whole width of the tank front to back , the water passes over a longer weir. Having water pass over a longer weir allows for slower flow that is quieter.

Sometimes you want to go a little further with your design. More creative and intricate sump designs are possible. Rather than just having rectangular pieces of glass, you can create openings for water to pass through. Cutting notched panels with the corner cut out allows for the sump to do a lot more with the minimum amount of dividers.

Equipment such as reactors have the potential to come apart and leak. Reactors may also have flimsy barbed fittings and tubing, especially on the cheaper models. If one of these fittings blows out, you want the reactor in a place where the water will only spill into the sump and not anywhere else. While common to be be located next to the sump, what is to happen if it overfills?

Anything with the potential to leak should ideally be located inside the walls of a sump or just above it. It can also be a good idea to install a water alarm in the cabinet. There are many ways that a tank can potentially leak, which you should always be aware of. If the first process in my sump is for water to drop in a mechanical sock then if using the herbie drain my main siphon line would actually have to be in the sock right?

Yes — I also went into more detail responding to your other comment on the Herbie Overflow page. What about a 2 chamber design? The only necessary baffle is the 1st one. That will keep the skimmer in consistent water height. In a 20H tank you have limited space so I would put a single baffle in the center. If you try to create a 3-chamber design on a small tank it can cause a problem. This is because the return pump chamber will mostly likely be too small. This will make the skimmer overflow, or in the worst case overflow the sump.

I have three chambers, baffles separate the first and second chamber, then I have the skimmer and then it seems a slight waterfall into the third chamber where the return pump is, should I turn the sump around so that the baffles are at the other end and should the skimmer be in the middle chamber or should it be in the first chamber with the inlet?

Since the skimmer looks like it would fit, I would put it in the first chamber. This keeps it a little further away from the return pump and will give the microbubbles more time to dissipate. Thank you, should I have anything in the middle chamber or maybe turn the sump around so that the baffles are at the return end? Judging from the height of the baffles it looks like it was intended the other way around. I would only bother with turning it around if you have problems with microbubbles.

Hey, fantastic article, it really has helped me out with designing my sump. I will only have the return pump in the second chamber. Do you have any recommendations as to what else I can put in either chamber? Would Bio Balls be worth having? Thanks for your help! Glad it helped you. I would skip the bioballs, there are so many better options out there.

I like using extra live rock and ceramic media like Siporax in my sumps. You can put the media it in a plastic basket so water can flow through it, and it can go in whatever chamber you like.

Thanks again! Very informative article. Then a refug for nitrates. Last a hob crp protein skimmer. My question is there a order these should be add in to make them more efficient. Most of the time people use mechanical filtration like a sock or floss in the first chamber. I am building a new house and I have the opportunity to have a remote sump. The drain lines will then go down under the concrete slab and come out in the room with the remote sump.

By using this type of hose, I will not need any elbows. Normally sumps have the drain lines entering the top of the sump. In order to do this I would have to have my drain lines go up and over the edge of the sump. I was wondering instead of going over the top of the sump, could I just put a set of bulkheads in the side of the sump and have the water enter that way? So, there is no ample room for a refugium too. To conclude, if you merely require a sump to contain one item such as a skimmer, this may possibly be the one for you.

It is definitely well-built, comes with appealing look and does a wonderful job at what it was exactly manufactured for. It also includes some nice and useful accessories once bought. While the chamber of the return pump is small and may somehow cause inconvenience when getting the pump in and out and may produce slightly annoying sound when running, this is still a good device to try.

After all, no device is flawless. Without any shadow of doubt, it is more cost-effective to invest in a saltwater sump that you can put together all by yourself. Nowadays, there are so many DIY sump kits for you to select from, and these are relatively more affordable to purchase as compared to the ones that are ready-made.

Thus, unlike ready-made versions, you are less likely to have problems with space where to properly fit your aquarium equipment. This is made of top quality acrylic materials that can ensure long-standing use.

This product is actually a wonderful alternative that could work best for the type of fish tank that you currently own. While this comes with instructions that come with some pictures on how to set it up, you may also refer to some videos on YouTube to see how to easily assemble it.

For all that, this sump kit is not that easy to put together. But, you can follow the assembly procedures by heart to lessen the labor. And, the weld-on adhesive that is used to glue some parts together is difficult to use and you need to be fast in attaching some pieces together to avoid it from melting sooner. This sump is designed to be aesthetically-appealing and can run smoothly.

Hence, if you are searching for sump refugiums that appear to be well-constructed and elegant, then this could meet your preference. It can serve as an impressive shelter for all your aquarium equipment or it could also be utilized to accommodate your delicate finned friends and aquatic plants thriving inside the fish tank. Besides, it could even work wonders in enhancing the volume of water inside the aquarium. The good news is that there are several potentialities as well as features here, and you are free to decide.

To put simply, you can utilize it for different uses or purposes you may have in mind. What is more, this model is distinctively built with top quality acrylic and foam materials. Thus, this makes the sump a lot easier to shift around as it is not bulky. It may be lightweight, but many users who have already tried it claimed that it remains durable and dependable. In different circumstances, while this sump seems to be well-made, it cannot be denied that it somehow has the tendency to easily get damaged maybe because of the fact that it is quite lightweight.

And, the return pump area appears to be too confined. This may not be a serious issue though but it can cause a slight inconvenience. As you can see, these are just a few of the downsides that you need to inspect on this model before getting one. While it is true that purchasing the appropriate aquarium sumps and refugiums can be complicated at times, this is not enough reason for you to give up. By happy chance, with lots of reliable brands out there, you can definitely find the one that best suits your preferences.

This sump for reefs comes with exquisite appeal and seems to be designed professionally. Its red, white and black design can look magnificent in your fish room or cabinet. What makes this product quite distinct from other models is that it comes with computer laser cut pattern. This gives it a tidy look and you can choose it in blue, black or red covers too.

Likewise, this is furnished with dual drains plus a large-sized 7-inch filter sock chamber that enables good overflow. The refugium section is slightly small but can fit almost all reef setups while the skimmer section is just enough in size. It is also built with a freshwater basin that is capable of carrying 5 gallons of tank water. Once bought, this already includes adjustable water level and built-in probe holders, power cords and grommets that are intended to be used for water lines.

In any case, this model seems to be in small size and there is a possibility that you may get the one that does not look like what was printed in the picture as the manufacturer constantly revises their products. Hence, you should not be surprised if your new order looks a lot distinct than the one in the picture. This refugium sump kit is specifically built to offer more affordability and simplicity of design.

It is specifically functional for fish tanks that contain 75 by up to gallons of water. In like manner, it makes a great choice if the space is narrow in the stand below the display tank. This is incomparable in terms of reliability, ease and convenience of use and A1 performance.

Further, this includes a flex hose that you could connect to your overflow or bulkhead and also comes with a pre-filter sponge that sits between the barriers to aid in supporting biological filtration and ward-off annoying noise. It is good to know that you can now have adequate space where you can keep your fish tank equipment as well. Some of the most exceptional reasons that make this sump model a good product to consider aside from its out-of-the-ordinary features are its affordability, compact design and silent operation mode.

Also, this product is more likely to cause some leaks from the corner seam. It is interesting to note that besides these flaws, it is almost perfect in other aspects. Being considered as one of the best reef sumps, this product is specifically built for saltwater tanks. In the same way, this sump comes with uncommon colors for anyone who prefers the type of colors that seem patriotic. It is specifically engineered for protein skimmer driven sumps mainly because it does not have a space for a refugium.

This is the perfect option for anyone searching for a durable, silent operation and a duck soup to maintain sump. If you are keeping a saltwater tank, then this could satisfy the requirements you may have. The refugium can be transformed into a dry or wet trickle strainer. Furthermore, it is designed with an easy-to-adjust flow gate that passes through the refugium spot of the sump.